Pressure transducers are utilized and employed in a wide variety of applications. One application for the use of a pressure transducer involves measuring oxygen pressures. In aircraft or in other environments oxygen masks are employed in dangerous situations. The oxygen masks can be released and used by a passenger in the event of a technical breakdown whereby the aircraft may lose pressure or in other situations. In employing such devices, one must measure the actual pressure of the oxygen as it enters each mask. One can monitor the entire pressure of the oxygen on the aircraft, but this would not be sufficient and it is preferable that one measure the pressure of the oxygen at each mask. In this manner one can be assured that the proper pressure is being furnished together with the oxygen. In many such devices, the oxygen instead of flowing continuously, is basically pulsed and therefore bursts of oxygen are sent at predetermined repetitive intervals. In this manner, the average pressure imparted to the oxygen mask should be known and therefore a pressure transducer or a sensor is employed in order give an accurate measure of the pressure supplied to the mask. If the pressure is not adequate, a warning light or other indication can be provided indicating that the passenger should use another mask or use other facilities.
The aspect of monitoring oxygen pressure in an aircraft or other environment is very desirable. It may also be desirable to measure oxygen pressure in other types of oxygen devices such as in hospital environments and so on where oxygen is also supplied to a patient or other user. As one can ascertain, measuring the pressure of oxygen creates certain problems. Any transducer utilized in such an environment must be capable of being cleaned to remove Organic materials and to have no electrical current carrying members in contact with the oxygen. As one can ascertain, any spark or exposure to electrical current can ignite the oxygen thus leading to a disaster. A pressure transducer utilized in such environments must be fabricated to prevent the above-noted problems. It is a further desire to provide such a pressure transducer at low cost due to the large number of transducers that are employed in an aircraft having a large number of passenger seats and positions.